In pharmaceutical, biotechnology, food, beverage, and other industries, it is often desired to take many samples to monitor process development and/or optimize process steps. Conventional fluid sampling is commonly conducted with a needle-free sampling valve connected to a reactor or other processing vessels via small diameter tubing. The operator first swabs the connection of the sampling valve with a cleaner, typically an ethanol or methanol solution. Next a standard syringe is connected and a full sample is drawn, disconnected, and discarded. This is done to clear the tubing and valve of any dead leg which would result in an inaccurate reading. Then, the sampling valve is cleaned again and a new syringe is connected to take a representative sample.
The conventional process of cleaning is operator-dependant and can easily be missed or improperly conducted. Further, to get a sample, the operator needs to connect twice to the system with different sampling devices, doubling the chance of contamination. Therefore, there is a need for an improved fluid transfer device, system, and method that can overcome the various disadvantages in conventional fluid sampling.